Tag: On The Job
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In the Blog
On the Job: Marine Biologist
Today, women face many new types of jobs as industries expand and new work environments emerge. From the tech world to the booming blogging community, job hunting can create anxiety inducing challenges for women. Many of these new fields are male dominated and require ingenuity and perseverance. Telling the stories of women who are breaking into job markets is an important ingredient to making sure equal opportunity exists for everyone. This month, we delve into the … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Si se peude: Fast food workers strike in the US
In May 2001, American author and sociologist Barbara Ehrenreich published Nickel and Dimed. In this deeply provocative ethnography, Ehrenreich attempts to earn a living wage at a variety of service sector jobs in one month intervals, from Wal-Mart associate, waitress, hotel maid, house cleaner, and nursing-home aide. All of these positions paid minimum wage and, therefore, should have provided the author with a sustainable income. What she found was a series of jobs that were … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Unpaid Internships: Know Your Rights
by Melissa Reiter On June 11, 2013, the Southern District of New York court affirmed that unpaid interns are entitled to rights under the U.S. Fair Labor Standards Act, 1938, as amended (the “FLSA”). In a case brought by Eric Glatt, a former “intern” at Fox Searchlight Pictures, against the production company along with several other “interns” who had been working with Glatt on the film “Black Swan,” the court held that the criteria used … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Six Degrees of Inoculation
When I started at the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre/Multicultural Women Against Rape, I was given a benefits package**. My coworkers helped me to use my benefits package, not just for health care but also for self-care. And so my adventure on new ways to care for myself began! Once I got my teeth cleaned, and some of my basic health care needs met, I started to explore my self-care options. I realized I seriously needed a … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Toronto event: action for International Workers Day
From the Facebook event: Join us in the streets for the annual May Day of Action in Toronto. 5:30 PM: Rally and March starting at City Hall and ending at Little Norway Park in solidarity with striking workers at Porter (Queens Quay and Bathurst) On International Workers Day, we march to build a Solidarity City. Solidarity City is a unified struggle for: Respect for Indigenous Sovereignty, Status for All, an End to Imperialism and Environmental Destruction, an End … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Labour, Harm Reduction, and Allyship
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: labour doesn’t exist in a vacuum. And yet, we tend to think about this large part of our lives as somehow separate from “real life.” I’m not sure if this need to segment our labour is a product of Western education founded on arbitrary divisions or a way to detach from work lives that, for some, are filled with precarity, malaise, or just plain boredom. That’s … READ MORE
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In the Blog
What I learned while trying not to watch the Olympics
Now that we’re no longer inundated with the minute-by-minute updates from London–newsflashes brought to you by Coke and McDonalds–it’s time to take part in Ye Olde Olympic retrospective and for me to confess the following: My name is Meg. I am a feminist. But I also love the Olympics. That said, I am highly, highly critical of the corporate ethos that governs not just the Games’ infrastructure, but also how the labour of amateur athletes … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Feminism is for everybody: Join the global boycott against Hyatt Hotels
A little over a week ago, a worldwide boycott of Hyatt hotel chains was announced in the US, organized by UNITE HERE, the union that represents Hyatt hotel workers. Hyatt is guilty of labour abuses that are becoming more common in this age of austerity, including ever-increasing, oppressive workloads (cleaning thirty rooms in a shift, to start); limited time off; and of course, hiring contract workers to cut costs, to name a few. Additionally, there are … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Press release: Ontario Court leaves most vulnerable sex workers unprotected
http://maggiestoronto.ca/press-releases?news_id=86 March 26, 2012 - In a ruling which many sex workers are calling a disappointment, the Ontario Court of appeal today released a decision that upheld the law against communication for the purposes of prostitution, modified the law against living off the avails of prostitution and struck down the law against operating a common bawdy house. “The vast majority of all prostitution arrests are under the communication law. The failure to strike down the communication law … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Taking on the Union Busters
We live in a time where our rights are on the job have been carved away, bit-by-bit, whether it’s hapless governments or multinationals who benefit from neo-liberal policies. For this reason, participatory mobilization alongside collective bargaining has never been more important. The following video helps illustrate this point. Precarious work in its many forms is open to myriad abuses and our experiences with labour intersects with ableism, racism, sexism, colonization, transphobia and homophobia. We need labour … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Issue 19 out now!
On November 2, 2011, Oakland went on strike. In a formidable display of solidarity and support, workers across the city united in opposition to oppressive government policies, industry exploitation and state violence. At home in Toronto, I watched while an estimated three thousand protesters successfully forced an operational halt to the Oakland Port. I was moved when I saw local businesses shut down in solidarity and I cried when I saw hundreds of school-aged children carrying … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Tituba’s Revenge: organizing and advocacy for not-for-profit workers
One of the greatest achievements of neoliberalism is the ways in which the state’s role shifted from caretaker to CFO. This ostensibly seamless transition saw the rise of the not-for-profit/non-profit sector (I use the terms interchangeably in this post), stepping in to provide necessary social services that were once the responsibility of our governments and elected officials. In other words, governments need not-for-profits, and not-for-profits, which might receive some funding form government agencies and need … READ MORE
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In the Blog
2011: A Shameless Retrospective
What a year! People say that every year as they bid the previous one adieu but 2011 has been full of world events that have shocked and touched us. Worry is one of the words that comes to mind when we think about 2011. From worry over the economy to fretting about our political climate, it’s clear the past year was fraught with events that, despite the fast pace of our lives, has caused us … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Labour News: Local 832 earns human rights award
Get excited! The winter issue of Shameless will be a labour issue, chock full of amazing features: Unions and youth Unpaid internships Sex work decriminalization from a sex worker perspective Leading up to this issue, we’re excited to share this press release from Manitoba with you: UFCW Canada Local 832 has been chosen as the 2011 recipient of the prestigious Human Rights Commitment Award of Manitoba. Every year, In recognition of International Human Rights Day, the Manitoba Human Rights Commission (MHR), … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Recommended Reading: International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers
Yesterday (Saturday, December 17) was the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. From the Incite! Women of Colour Against Violence blog, we recommend Indigenous Peoples in the Sex Trade: Speaking for Ourselves. This piece was also recommended reading in supplement to our piece on Indigenous Sovereignty in the Fall 2011 issue of Shameless. The piece is best read as a whole and not in excerpt, so go check it out! … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Blurred optics: media visibility, wage discrepancy, and gender binaries
This January, Shameless will publish its Labour Issue. We’re really excited about this but it’s also useful to think about the ways in which labour intersects with numerous issues. None of us exist in a vacuum–we are all works-in-progress that reflect specific communities and unique experiences–and labour is no different. Throughout 2011, a pet media issue was income disparity between men and women. The Washington Post, for instance, reported that in 2010 the average starting salary … READ MORE
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In the Blog
The new must-have for Fall 2011? Unions.
On October 31, The Toronto Star published a story detailing a successful union drive at H&M in Square One, a large shopping center in Mississauga. The process began in July, when Amy Tran, a member of the United Food and Commercial Union (UFCW), approached Sabrina Butt. Was she interested in a union, Tran inquired? Butt, an H&M employee since 2008, took time to gauge how receptive her full- and part-time colleagues were to this … READ MORE
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In the Blog
When Working is Radical
It seems that I am something of a radical. That the things that I think, believe in and work towards are such a shift from the patterns currently entrenched in society that I am often mocked for my views and my tireless belief that eventually, we can get there. This summer, I had my radicalism confirmed by something that was decidedly non-radical. I decided that as a student, I needed a summer job. At the time, … READ MORE
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In the Blog
Brigette DePape: A Page with Chutzpah
This past Friday, June 3, a young page stood during the Throne Speech and held up a homemade sign that read ‘Stop Harper.’ After this event, Brigette DePape promptly released a well-written, concise press release (you can read it here), denouncing the Harper Government’s divisive politics as destructive to Canadian youth and contrary to Canadian values. Here’s the gist: Brigette DePape is 21 years old and an activist. Originally from Winnipeg, she is a graduate of … READ MORE
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In the Blog
The Made in Dagenham Method
When I was trying to figure out how to write about organizing collectively, several issues jumped out at me: 1) I have little experience making broad demands to my employer and 2) I have never had to go on strike. What I can tell you is how to ensure your manager purchases a new kettle for the staff room or making sure you are not shamed into taking 38 minutes for lunch instead of the … READ MORE